


Canard

by sadbrowngirlpoetry



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-01
Updated: 2012-06-01
Packaged: 2017-11-06 13:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadbrowngirlpoetry/pseuds/sadbrowngirlpoetry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ca·nard [kuh-nahrd;-nar]  n. An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story.</p>
<p>It was a ruse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Canard

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't want to write this; the song made me. Lyrics are from "Civilian" by Wye Oak.

**ca·nard** [kuh-nahrd;-nar]

_n._  
An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story.

* * *

**i – Gale**

_I wanted to love you like my mother's mother's mother did / civilian, civilian_

When she kisses him that first night, you tell yourself it's for the Games. You tell yourself it's for the cameras and the Capitol and she only did it to stay alive and return to Twelve, to _you_.

When Haymitch sends broth, you convince yourself it was a ruse. Mrs. Everdeen agrees with you, but the edge of doubt in her voice is unmistakable.

You laugh at Mellark's foolishness; as if he has a chance against you. He will never have what _you_ have with her.

As the days progress, your reassurances and hopes and dreams fall apart.

Because they sleep together and they kiss and it's _honest_.

And when she utters those words, you know you have lost her.

"You don't have much competition anywhere," she says and your weak heart dies.

* * *

**ii – Katniss**

__I am nothing without pretend_ _/ I know my faults_ _/ can't live with them_ _

You know that the audience loves you.

You can almost hear their delightful screams, as you lean in and kiss him that first night. You don't know why you did it. Maybe to quiet him. Definitely not to please _them_. They can have their laugh when you're dead.

You didn't feel butterflies in your stomach or fireworks or anything.

And then Haymitch sends the broth, and you know that _that_ 's what he needs you to do. But it's not enough.

_Gale._

"I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it," Peeta had said.

What would he think of you?

Betrayal. That's what you see in his eyes when you feed him the last of those berries.

* * *

**iii – Peeta**

_I wanted yo give you everything / but I still stand in awe of superficial things_

So, it was a game.

It's funny. You had told her that you didn't want to be just another piece in their games.

You ended up being a piece in _her_ games.

You should have known, really. Would she have cared to find you if it weren't for the rule change? She did it to stay alive, to go back to _him_.

_What about the feast?_ you ask yourself. _What about the berries?_

All an act.

You should have known. After all, the Games change everyone.

* * *

**iv – Gale  
**

_I know my thoughts_ _/ but I can't hide them_

She is back.

You remind yourself she is back, and she is alive, and that's the only thing that matters.

But you're her _cousin_ now. You hate that. You hate that _fiercely_.

You hate it that she's not _Katniss_ anymore. Katniss, with dirt under her fingernails, Katniss with her hair pulled in a messy braid, Katniss from those mornings back in the forest, when everything was so simple, so uncomplicated.

You try to avoid her at first. You know she is waiting for you. She's waiting for you every Sunday, but you can't bring yourself to find her.

In the end, of _course_ you find her.

When she sees you, she runs into your arms, making some sort of wrenching noise, and you wonder what took you so damn long.

And then you kiss her, because, damn it, you're _not_ her cousin.

"I had to do that," you say as you step away. "At least once."

And you leave.


End file.
